Saturday, April 28, 2007

A Busy Few Days

The last few days have been a little crazy.

Thursday morning at 8:00, I took Bailey to the vet for a nail trim and so I could consult with the doctor about treatment. This was the first time we had seen her since Bailey's DM diagnosis. She was wonderful, and spent an hour and a half going through my 2 pages of questions, answering what she could, and making a list of her own questions to ask the neurologist at Auburn when she gets a call back. She also promised to bring me a life jacket and ramp that we can use for Bailey. We have the best vet in the world, if you haven't picked up on that yet!

Thursday night, I babysat and did not get home until 10:00.

Friday morning, back at the vet at 8:30 to pick up the aminocaproic acid and n-acetylsysteine (DM meds) which finally arrived! I also picked up the life jacket and ramp that Dr. VM brought in that morning even though she was flying out of the state that day. (Have I mentioned how great she is?!)

Friday night, I had to work late because I got there late Thursday after the long consult and Friday after picking up the meds. So I did not get home from work and Walmart until 8:00. Midnight was our first administration of the aminocaproic acid (EACA) and the n-acetylsysteine (NAC). I felt like I was back in a biology lab, mixing up the solutions. Both of the meds have to be mixed with chicken broth to make them more palatable. The NAC gets mixed 9mL with 36mL broth, which makes 3 doses. The EACA gets mixed 2mL with 1mL broth each dose. They both have to be given 3 times a day for now, and on an empty stomach. So for this weekend anyway, our schedule is midnight, 8:00am, 4:00pm, repeat. The times will change when I'm working, of course.

Crashed as soon as the meds were given last night, hoping that if they did make Bailey nauseated, he wouldn't notice if he was asleep. Prayed that he wouldn't vomit during the night! Set the alarm for 8:00am.

At 7:50 this morning, Bailey was up and wanting out of my room. Meds at 8:00, to the park a little while after that, where he walked 20+ minutes and loved it. Back home, resting for an hour before feeding (no bloat allowed here!), vitamin E, vitamin C, synoviG3, treat and food. Looooong nap, for Bailey. I finished watching The Queen and then had to get ready for an appointment to have my hair cut at 1:15, then came home and Bails and I took a 2 hour nap! We missed the 4:00 meds by an hour because neither of us could wake up.

He LOVES the new meds. Really, he loves the chicken broth, but I'm not going to tell him there's medicine in there too! He is not fond of liquid meds and having mommy squirt them down his throat, but I figured out that if I squeeze the syringe very slowly, he likes to lick it and it actually mostly ends up in his mouth instead of on the floor. I tried to get a video of him taking the meds, but my camera battery was dead.

Bailey also discovered watermelon yesterday. At first he thought I was crazy for trying to give him fruit (typical reaction for him), but when I sat down to eat my piece and he wanted what I was eating, I pointed to his bowl of watermelon and he finally ate it. He chewed each bite thoroughly (very cute) and ate all that I gave him. I think he liked it. ;o) He ate some more today.

Next time, I'll tell you all about Bailey's new personal chef who starts tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Sunday, April 22, 2007

He practices in the mirror.

Bailey should be in show business.

I took him, his floppy frisbee, a towel, and a book outside tonight, and he wandered around and explored while I read. As I was gathering everything up to come inside, I reached down to pick up his floppy. He took off running across the yard, wanting me to throw it for him. Once he got it, he ran around, shaking his booty this way and that, and shaking the floppy. He asked me to throw it for him several times. Finally, he put it down and seemed ready to quit playing. So I told him, "Go get your floppy and bring it inside." This is a command he knows very well, and my absolute favorite one! But tonight, as soon as I told him to do it, he dropped his head and started walking really slowly and stiffly toward the gate. This was 30 seconds after running after the floppy!

I'm telling you, the boy practices "pitiful" in the mirror when I'm not home...


(He did bring his floppy in himself, by the way...:o)

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Not 10 . . not 15 . . .

. . . but 20 minutes! That's how long Bailey walked today. Mom and I took him to the park this morning, and he had a blast. He loved all the new smells and it was also nice not to walk laps around the backyard for once! I wish I had had my camera with me though. He saw a squirrel on the trunk of a tree one time, and he almost climbed the tree trying to get to it! Crazy boy!

He probably would have walked longer, but he saw my car and knew that was the way home and headed straight for it with determination. Now he just wants to sleep...




Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Walking On

Bailey and I just did our 10 minutes of walking, except we actually went 12 minutes! Way to go, Bailey! He is doing really well with Dr. C.'s exercise protocol so far. We start out walking 10 minutes every other day for 2 weeks and then increase the time until we're doing (2) 30-minute walks and (1) 1-hour walk each week. Bailey is doing so well I've started gradually increasing the time. After finishing his walk tonight, we sat out in the sunshine and enjoyed the nice breeze for a while. He also enjoyed lots of petting and a little massage too. When I got up to come inside, he grabbed his frisbee and wanted to run and play. That is so encouraging to this mommy! I pray that God keeps him active, happy, healthy and mobile for a long time to come. I plan to enjoy a lot more sunshine and breezes with my little guy.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

One really big bandage . . .



Bailey's wearing my t-shirt today.

He does not normally wear my clothes. In fact, I envy his limited wardrobe choice and often ask to borrow his clothes so I can avoid choosing something to wear. But today, I had had enough.

When we were at Auburn last week, they shaved his right leg to insert an IV while he was under anaesthesia for the MRI. Now, Bailey is a compulsive licker by nature and does not need a reason to lick his legs and feet for hours on end. But anytime he has anything shaved, this compulsion to lick kicks into overdrive.

So what was a simple shaved patch on his leg has now become a battle zone! Bailey licks, mommy tells him to stop, he stops. Bailey licks again, mommy tells him to stop again, he stops again. And this process repeats at least 50 times a day. I realize that the hair growing back itches him, so I bought Benadryl cream and a wrap. I covered the leg in the cream, put bandages on top, and wrapped it until I thought surely he could not get to it. Wrong! Twice I did this, and twice he had it bleeding (just a little) with the bandage still in place.

I took the bandages off and left them off, thinking perhaps the bandages were bothering him more than the hair regrowth. Then I came home today, and his leg was soaked from him licking it. That's when the t-shirt went on. He does not love it, but he can't get to his leg, so I think I won. Score one point for the mommy!

Thursday, April 12, 2007

My Snuggle Bunny

(Bailey snuggled up with mommy's sweatpants)


Bailey was in such a sweet mood last night. He just wanted to lie on his bed with mommy's hand under his chin. He would paw at me and pull my hand towards him, and then put his chin in my hand and lay his head down. So sweet!

Later, he wanted to pull EVERY toy out of his toy box, and that boy has a LOT of toys! When he wants attention, he stands at his toy box and barks until I come help him. The box is too big for him to reach the toys on the bottom by himself. Sometimes he will root around in the box on his own, but he usually ends up calling me over. When I pulled out his baseball player that sings "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", he was intrigued and played with it for a while.
That boy is too cute . . . :o)

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Let me introduce myself . . . .

Welcome to the blog that is all about Bailey! I don't know if anyone will even read this blog besides me, but I decided this would be a good way to record lots of Bailey memories. I have no idea what is in store for us since Bailey was diagnosed with degenerative myelopathy a week ago today, but I know that I will cherish each moment I have with my little boy from now on!

Degenerative myelopathy (DM) is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system, starting with the spinal cord. If left untreated, the disease will eventually leave the dog paralyzed in the hind legs and can lead to incontinence. There is no cure, and not all dogs respond to treatment. We have not decided yet what Bailey's treatment plan will include, but I plan to fight to retain Bailey's mobility for the rest of his life. We have already started an exercise program, and they say this is the most important thing for a DM dog.

The first thing I noticed that was unusual was Bailey stumbling when he had to get out of someone's way, like his brain could not tell his feet fast enough what to do. That was at least a year ago. Now when he walks, he often drags the nails on his back left foot. He also knuckles that foot, or turns it over so that the top of his toes are on the ground rather than the pads. He also has trouble turning corners sometimes, with his back legs sliding out from under him if he rounds them fast enough.

I took him to a university vet school last Wednesday where he saw a neurologist who diagnosed it as DM. They did an initial neurologic exam and recommended having an MRI. At that point, they were thinking he might have a bulging disc or a tumor. They did the MRI, x-rays, and a spinal tap, all of which were perfectly normal. Ruling everything else out left them with a presumptive diagnosis of DM. Since then I have been researching DM as much as possible, and hopefully we can find a treatment plan that will work for Bailey.

I am sure DM will come up again in this blog, but I plan to use it mostly to record moments with my baby.